


Dread Of The Deep

by thatonehipsterwannabe



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst?, Books, M/M, Magic Books, Sirens, WOW!!, a lotta things gonna happen smh, awkward bois?, hell yeah, klance, lol idiots, siren!au, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-23 23:32:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8347075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatonehipsterwannabe/pseuds/thatonehipsterwannabe
Summary: Lance is staying in his parents' cottage with Hunk and Pidge for the week. Strange things start happening after they each find their own mysterious books...





	1. You Are Not Alone

**Author's Note:**

> hi.  
> i don't know what i'm doing.  
> this is my first time writing something for this site?? and???? i already messed up lol but it's okay. i tried. sorry if the grammar is wrong, i go to a french school and don't really learn any english that often. so, yeah, i hope you enjoy the most random siren au i've ever done!! (also, i'm pretty sure you're supposed to put capital letters in english titles like that, right?? it's so confusing,,,,)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance, Hunk and Pidge are staying at Lance's summer home when they come across something unusual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!! i'm sorry if i go back and edit this story a lot, it's still developing as I go. but yeah. i had an idea for a story and here it is. i hope it's not too confusing!!

You know those times that you see something and remember everything you forgot?

 

* * *

 

It was a warm night. The stars seemed to shine even brighter than ever before. It was nice, yet something wasn't right in Keith's mind. He grazed his fingers along the rock he was sitting on and gently dragged his hand up to rest upon his lap. He looked down at his scales, looking almost purple with the blue tinted light coming from the moon. 

"What are you doing up here?" Keith heard a voice coming from behind him and whipped around to see Shiro's head bobbing in the water. He let out a sigh.

"Nothing." He responded, turning to face away from Shiro.

"If it's nothing, then why is this your fourth? Fifth time coming up here?" He pressed. Keith let out a little growl.

"None of your business." Keith snapped. He felt Shiro nod his head as he dove back underneath the water. Great. Just great. Keith did it again. Keith never meant to be rude, but why were people always so  _annoying?_ He wouldn't have to offend anyone if they just left him alone. He wouldn't have to loose his friends if he never had any, so why couldn't Keith just tell Shiro to go away? That he didn't need anybody? Keith let out another sigh as he decided to follow Shiro underneath the peaceful waves, as his night had been ruined by any thought about any other siren.

But still.

Keith couldn't help but think about the strange book that had been left behind.

 

* * *

 

It had been late at night when he heard the strange rustling and purring from underneath his bed. He didn't want to look, he thought it was dumb. It's how everything always started in horror movies, and Lance wasn't about to have the same fate. But, then again, if he  _didn't_ look, the chances of something terrible happening were the same. So, naturally, he let curiosity take over and peeked underneath the dark wood of his bed. 

From the moment he let his eyes look over the mattress, he could see a bright blue glow emitting from underneath it. The growl of it turned into more of a hum, something of a song.

He let his hand reach out to grab it, despite all the voices in the back of his mind telling him not to, because, despite them, there was a confident and unfamiliar voice amongst the worry and fear. A voice that sounded deep seated and dark, yet alluring. A voice of bravery. It reminded him of... something. It was telling him, louder than the others, to take the chance and seal his fate. 

His palm clasped over the object, hand shaking, and it felt to be a book. It was thick, and seemed to be cased in leather. It was buzzing and still humming, a radiant yet pale blue shining through the hundreds of pages. When he brought it up onto the bed, its vibrations and glows dimmed until they were gone completely, which was when Lance opened the book to the first page.

The first thing he noticed upon opening it was how cold the room felt when he began reading the words, how the warmth radiating from the book took away from the rest of the room.

The next was the only sentence, in small letters at the top of the page, pooling dread into Lance's stomach.

 

_You are not alone._

 

It wasn't a lonely sentence. It was telling Lance that the exact opposite was true. If so, then why did it feel so hollow inside of his mind? Why did it feel like there was a raging storm outside of his home that he couldn't hear? What was he missing? What was lost?

Before he could continue his thought, his fingers were gently flipping to the next page, as if his mind was trailing behind his actions. 

The rest of the book was covered page to page in sketches and scribbles, some that he could just barely make out. They were scribbles of dragons, and lions, and aliens, and everything in between, from planets as large as bugs to bugs as large as planets. Harpies and unicorns and fairies and fantasies, all in this book as he flipped through the pages frantically. Different pencils and pens were used on every few pages as the writing got messier and the faint pulsing in his ears got louder and louder, and the thumping kept growing until his eyes met with the word "Siren". As soon as he was able to study the drawing and the word, the pulsing completely faded. He felt blood rushing to his fingers and toes as it left his face, as if he'd seen something shocking and terrifying. He sat in cold, dead silence for a second or two before a bright light flashed, and he found himself awake.

Alone in his room.

Despite the gnawing pain he felt inside, he looked under his bed.

The book was not there.

Lance sighed and stood up. He was about to put on some clothes for the day before realizing that he had worn his clothes to bed, and simply decided to wear the same thing again today.

He strolled out the door into the living room, taking in a deep breath of the summery yet woody smell from his parents' cottage. His parents had trusted him and his friends, Hunk and Pidge, to stay there for the week without causing too much trouble.

Unsurprisingly, he wasn't the first one awake, although he did awaken earlier than usual. Hunk was standing in the kitchen, across from Lance. He looked up from whatever it was that he was cooking and grinned widely.

"Good morning, Lance!" he chimed. Lance stepped down into the sunken living room to make his way over to the kitchen. The cottage was a very open space, which Lance always loved. 

"And good morning to you, Hunk!" he replied, hiding the inexplicable dread he was feeling.

"Aren't we feeling chipper today." Hunk resumed looking down into the pan he was using.

"I have a good feeling about today." Lance sat down on one of the stools at the kitchen counter, and rubbed his fingers together nervously underneath the counter top. He knew what he'd just said was a lie. This day was anything  _but_ good, he thought.

Hunk made a noise of agreement. "Just wait 'til you eat these eggs and it'll be even better." Hunk beamed. Lance began to suspect Hunk of lying, just as he was, but didn't mention it. He simply mumbled in accord. The silence after that was almost sickening. It felt warm, yet both knew it wasn't as nice a silence as they pretended it was. Lance focused on the sizzling of the egg, the sound of waves crashing against the beach in the distance... It all reminded him of home. But... something still felt off in his gut, and he thought that Hunk felt the same way. Before Lance could think any longer, he heard a door slam open, with a happier-than-ever-looking Pidge. 

"Hey, guys." he said, coming from the hall to the right of the kitchen to sit next to Lance. "what's cooking?" 

"Good morning, Pidge. Apparently Hunk's cooking up some day-improving eggs." Lance responded.

"Oh, well I don't think I'll need any-- this day is already going to be great. Just great." Pidge trailed off in his thoughts, smile slowly fading to a neutral frown. Lance knew Pidge was hiding something, and Hunk likely did as well, but no one said anything. They all looked in different directions, distracting themselves from their thoughts and each other. Lance looked down as his hands. At all the lines on them, and tried to fold his hands to match each one. At his nails, and how long they were getting. At the muscles he could see when moving each individual finger. It could've been considered therapeutic if he weren't just trying to distract himself.

"I had a dream." Lance said, surprising himself. The two looked at him, indicating they wanted details. "it was about a book. It glowed blue under my bed, and inside there were pictures and stories of elves and fairies. And sirens." he continued, purposely leaving out the first sentence.  _You are not alone._

"Me too. Except I found the book in the bed with me, and it was full of robots and alien technology and stuff. Things like time travel and teleportation. Different constellations that meant different things. Andromeda, in particular. Oh yeah, but it wasn't blue, it was yellow." Hunk added.

"Huh. So did I. But my book was glowing green and was on the desk in my room. It was covered in amalgamations of things. Just stuff that someone shoved together with a roll of duct tape, or something. It was weird." Pidge said. "but when I looked for it this morning, it wasn't there. It was all just a dream."

"Yeah." Hunk agreed. "Well, the eggs are done. We can converse more after breakfast?" 

"Definitely." Pidge concluded.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed this sort of introductory first chapter! very short and kind of confusing, but i'm trying my best. i've already edited this twice??? i'm really new to writing on this site lol.


	2. Red Book

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, the truth isn't what you want to hear. Sometimes you just want to make it stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!! I really don't know where i'm going to go with this chapter, but i know where i'm going with the story so it shouldn't be that hard to write. i guess we'll see what happens!

Keith filed through the hundreds and hundreds of pages in the book upon his rock. It was the crack of dawn. There were three different sections, one about myths and stories, one about science and the future, and one about all kinds of weird domestic activities, like how to skip the perfect stone or how to always have perfectly butterable bread. How to sew a stuffed animal and how to fold the most complicated paper airplane that anyone's ever seen. Keith wasn't really interested in one of the three, but it was still fascinating how someone was so very interested in all.

As a matter of fact, there were a few pages on Sirens. Because of that, Keith figured it was probably a human book, which made sense. It was intriguing, really, how much this person knew about his kind. He knew a few things that Keith didn't. One of those things was that it was speculated that if a Siren stayed on land for too long, it would turn into a human instead of dying. Keith was very tempted to find out whether this was true or not, but there was no way anyone would let him near the shore. He'd tried to go, before, too, but never had he reached the land. He knew he would get there someday. Someday soon.

He placed the book next to himself on the rock as he sank into the water.

 

* * *

 

"Who wants to come with me to the beach?" Lance asked, ready to go in his swimsuit and all. No one replied. "What? Seriously?  _Neither_ of you?" The both of them averted their gaze.

Pidge finally sighed before saying; "Alright, I'll come. I'm just gonna say now, though. I have been thinking about this a lot, and I knew I'd probably have to tell you in this exact circumstance, but... It's still kind of hard to say, I guess." Pidge paused and took a deep breath. "I'm a girl. And I am, by no means, running around shirtless on the beach, thank you very much." Hunk nodded.

"Thanks for telling us, Pidge." Hunk said, with a sincere smile. "I kinda already knew, though." 

Pidge nodded. She? They? Well,  _it_ looked over at Lance. 

"Lance?" It asked. Lance was standing, eyes wide and mouth agape. 

"YOU'RE A GIRL?!" Lance exclaimed. "HOW?!" Pidge chuckled.

"Well, I'd prefer it if you used the term "they" or "them". But, yeah, I'm biologically a girl."

"Sounds good." Hunk nodded.

"Yeah, it's fucking fantastic." Lance said, trying his best not to yell. He knew he might've been offending Pidge with his exclamations, but Pidge didn't seem to care.

"So does that mean you're coming to the beach?" Lance asked, thinking on his toes.

"Yeah, of course!" Pidge responded enthusiastically. "It's been so long! How about you, Hunk? Are you gonna come?" 

"Um, I don't know, guys. I have a weird feeling." Hunk declined.

"Oh, come on. We all do, but I'm not gonna let some strange emotion ruin my time." Lance pushed. "Go get changed, Pidge! Time's-a-wastin'!"

"Right!" Pidge ran off to their room to change into their bathing suit, while Hunk was still unsure.

Lance eyed him suspiciously.

"Are you okay, dude? What's up?" Lance asked.

"Well, I-I've just been feeling nervous after that dream." 

"Really, Hunk? It's just a dream!"

"Yeah, I know. But the constellation in it was Andromeda. You know, the one who was, like, sacrificed to a water beast or something? I don't want to be eaten by a water beast, man."

Lance grabbed Hunk by the shoulders and looked into his eyes as seriously as he could.

"Hunk. I will protect you from any man-eating water beast we come across. You got it?"

Hunk nodded.

"Good. Now go get your swimsuit on, man!"  And with that, Hunk dashed off to his room to get ready,

 

* * *

 

As soon as the three were ready, Lance took off to the beach as if he'd been ready and waiting for this moment his entire life. The sun was shining in his eyes and the sand was hot underneath his feet, but he didn't care. He was ready. 

The lake on the coast of his cottage was small for a lake and was connected to the Gulf Of Mexico from where the cottage was in Florida. But, it was still small and was always the perfect swimming temperature.

Lance sprinted down the beach, surprised he hadn't fallen down yet, because there came times where he could've sworn his foot didn't touch the ground, but eventually his feet stopped when they landed in the perfect lukewarm water with soft, white mud underneath.

Lance turned around to see his two friends struggling with the hot sand, trying not to stand on it for too long as they hopped from one foot to the other. They were a ways away from the shoreline.

"And that's why you  _run!!_ " Lance called at them. He couldn't help but grin as wide as his face would let him. Pidge looked up at him with a glare of death while Hunk looked like he was on the brink of tears. Lance laughed in a way that was far too genuine for him as he took off once again toward the horizon of trees on the other side of the lake. It was small for a lake, but that didn't mean it was actually small.

When he was far enough in, he dove underneath the water and opened his eyes. It was foggy, but he could still make out shapes and depths. He knew that this was where the water really dipped down so deep that Lance couldn't reach the bottom anymore. It was blue and clear, and he never wanted to leave this place. It felt like home. All those unsteady emotions were pushed away by the enchanting welcome of the warm waters. Lance swam up to get a breath of air, and turned to see his friends just barely reaching the shore. He swam toward them, looking over to his left where a big cliff was.

When the water came shallow enough for him to stand, he did. The tides reached up to his waist as he looked up to the clear, blue sky. It reminded him of the water.

Lance continued walking toward his friends.

Pidge looked up at him and smiled.

"The water's really nice." they said.

"Yeah. You should bring us here more often." Hunk added.

"Maybe I will." he grinned. Lance could hardly hide his excitement. It was so nice to feel the sun on his skin after months of being cooped up in school. It was so, so warm and he soaked up every moment of it. 

Before he knew it, he was headed back out to the deeper water, Hunk and Pidge following close behind.

He swam outward toward a rock that stuck out of the water and was near the cliff. Before he got there, he noticed there was something on it. Something colored red, and looked to be rectangular. "Is that..." Lance trailed off as he swam toward it. 

He hoisted himself up onto the rock to sit beside the thing, which turned out to be... a book? It was encased in red leather and reminded him of the book from his dream. He opened it to the first page and read.

 

_You are not alone._

 

Lance felt shivers creep down his spine and felt the same way he did in the dream. Everything was suddenly cold. He flipped through the pages and found it to be exactly the book from his dream. And then he saw it again.

The page on Sirens.

"Hey! What are you holding?" Pidge called, tearing through the silence. Lance looked over to find Pidge treading over, Hunk close behind.

"N-nothing!" Lance quickly tossed the book aside, hiding it from the others.

"Wow, that's a lie if I've ever heard one." Pidge retorted.

Lance didn't know why he was keeping this book a secret, it was so cool! But for some reason, he felt as if he had to. He turned around to grab the book and throw it out in the water before realizing that it was already gone. Part of him was relieved, the other confused and frustrated.

"What're you hiding?" Pidge asked skeptically.

"Nothing!" Lance moved over to prove his point. "Just as I said." Lance slipped off the rock and into the water, limbs flailing and all. He swam back up as quickly as possible and gasped for air.

"Huh." Pidge said. "I could've sworn you were holding something."

"You know, Pidge, it really offends me when you say stuff like that. It's like you don't trust me, or something. I thought we were friends." Lance joked, swimming back to the beach.

Lance knew Pidge was probably rolling their eyes.

"Well, you thought wrong." Pidge responded. Lance stopped in his tracks and spun around, and let out a high pitched scoff.

"Wow. I am in utter shock, Pidge. Utter. Shock." Lance wept. Pidge scoffed in response.

"Yeah.  _R_ _ight_." they said.

"Right, indeed." Lance agreed.

 

* * *

  

"Who's ready for lunch?" Hunk asked upon entering the house. Lance glanced at the clock. 11:40 am.

"Me!" Lance announced.

"Me too." Pidge said, strolling past the kitchen to their room. "I'm gonna get changed."

"Yeah, I will too." Hunk decided, heading over to his own. Lance did the same.

As he began changing out of his swimsuit into his regular clothes, there was no  _way_ he wasn't going to think about what just happened. What was that? Was he hallucinating? No, because Pidge said that they saw it, too. Then where did it go? Did it drift off into the water? Well, it must've. There was no other way. Unless... Unless what the book had said was true? About Sirens? Maybe a Siren had taken it to its home! Lance knew he was getting ahead of himself, but he couldn't let go of the thought that there could be  _Sirens_ living in his lake. After some thought, Lance decided he was going to go out and see for himself after everyone was asleep. But, for now, lunch was awaiting him.

 

* * *

 

 

What.

Just.

Happened.

 

There was a real life  _human_ sitting on  _his rock_ reading  _his book._ All Keith could wonder was what. Just. Happened?! He swiped the book away from it while it was looking at something else, probably its friends. Ugh. They were all so dumb, those humans. Well, most of them, anyway.

But, despite the humans, Keith decided that he was going to run away tonight. He was going to test that Siren-human-transformation theory. He knew that there was some sort of building not far from where his home was and that there wasn't usually anyone there, so he would get to look around in there. 

This was the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there it is. chapter 2. i know it's getting kind of slow, but don't worry. there is plenty of klance in the near future. and, yes, all the chapters are probably going to be this short. but this story is not over yet.


	3. Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance meets an unexpected visitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is it, my friends. this is the day in which keith and lance will meet. here we go.

Lance had kept himself awake by reading a book he'd found in the bookcase in his room. It was about some futuristic universe with robot lions and aliens or something. It was incredible and Lance liked the pilot of the blue lion in particular. But, there was no more time to waste, unfortunately. And he was just getting to the part where the red paladin is about to reveal something about himself, too. Oh, well. That book can wait. He has a Siren to catch. 

Lance sneaked out of the house and began making his way down to the beach.

It was very dark out. It was nice and cool, yet dark. Lance realized he didn't have any kind of plan. The plan was to go and see a Siren, but he hadn't really put much thought into how he was going to do it. He hadn't even worn a swimsuit. Lance figured it was safe to say he was unprepared for this expedition.

All of a sudden, he noticed a silhouette on the beach, near the shoreline. It was a dude. Just... some dude standing on his beach. 

"Um. Hello?" Lance called to him. The dude turned around and stared at Lance for a second before responding.

"H... Hi." he said, flinching a little. His voice was familiar to Lance for some reason.

"Nice... pants?" Lance frowned. The dude's pants were shiny and red, and looked like scales.  _A lot_ like scales, actually.

"What the fuck are pants." he asked. Lance was taken aback by this question. 'What the fuck are pants.'?!

"What do you mean, 'what the fuck are pants'?" Lance asked, taking a step forward. "What planet are you from?"

"This... one...? And you?"

"Was that an insult?"

"No. You asked me what planet  _I_ was from. I thought I'd return the favor." Lance wasn't sure whether he disliked his tone or not.

"Where _did_ you come from?" Lance questioned. The mystery dude turned around and gestured to the lake.

"Wait-- what?!" Lance exclaimed. "You--! You're a Siren, aren't you? Did you take my book?" Lance took another step forward.

" _Your_ book? That was  _my_ book." the dude corrected.

"Oh, sorry, sorry!" Lance made a surrendering gesture with his hands.

" _What the fuck are pants?_ " The dude pressed.

"Who the fuck _are_ you?" Lance asked in return.

"Keith! WHAT THE FUCK ARE PANTS, YOU IGNORANT FUCK?!" the dude cried. Keith.

"Whoa, calm down, Keith." Lance took another step back.

"JUST FUCKING TELL ME WHAT PANTS ARE!"

"THEY'RE A SHIRT FOR YOUR LEGS!"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS A SHIRT?!"

"THIS!" Lance pinched the fabric of his shirt and made exaggerated motions toward it.

"OH!" Keith shouted in response. The two were practically hyperventilating and Lance worried about if the other two had awoken because of his recent screaming. "I don't own any shirts." Keith broke the silence.

"Clearly." Lance sighed, gesturing toward his shirtless torso. "And I'm guessing you don't own any pants, either?" 

Keith shook his head.

"Wow, this just got 20 percent more awkward for me. Wow." Lance ran his hand through his messy brown hair.

"Only 20 percent?" 

"Well, it was already really awkward, so..."

"Oh."

"Yeah..." Lance tried to avert his gaze. There was something so familiar about him and his voice... Lance just couldn't place it.

"Do you, perhaps, want a shirt or a pants?" Lance offered.

"I guess? I wasn't exactly planning on staying outside of the water for long, though."

"Oh." Lance sounded mildly disappointed and led Keith toward his cottage. On the way there, Keith spoke;

"Oh, yeah. By the way, that rock you were sitting on was mine, too." 

"Wait, do you live around here?" Lance asked.

"Yeah, right under the cliff." Keith responded.

"Really?! For how long?" 

"I don't know, forever? I thought we were going to get a shirt!"

"Really?!"

"Yes!"

"Oh. Yeah, let's get a shirt. That's what I meant." Lance continued walking toward his cottage.

Lance doubted that Keith had lived there his whole life with a  _passion._ Because so had Lance! Well, every summer, at least! But that's still enough time to have noticed an above-average looking mermaid man swimming around! 

Lance welcomed Keith in his cottage, but told him to be quiet. As quiet as possible.

Lance led him to his room and began ruffling through his clothes to find something for Keith to wear. He needed something red for Keith. The 'never' pile grew and grew with every blue shirt Lance tossed onto it. The 'maybe' pile was also growing with blue shirts. Why didn't Lance own any red shirts? Oh, wait-- he did. At his other house. Oh, that one would've been  _perfect_ for Keith. Lance pictured Keith wearing a leather jacket and fingerless gloves and snickered at the image.

"What  _is_ this?" Lance spun around on his heel to see Keith reading the book he'd been reading earlier, the one with the space lions. 

"Oh! That's a really good book I read before I went down to the beach and met you."

" _Good?_ It's unrealistic and eccentric. I don't like it." Keith argued.

"Well,  _I_ do. My favorites are the blue paladin and the red paladin."

"The red paladin? He's so... lame. But I do agree that the blue one is cool. He's ridiculous, but cute."

"If you like him, then you'll love me!" Lance joked. Keith simply rose an eyebrow in disbelief. "That was a joke." Lance clarified.

"Yeah, I know." Keith stuck his nose back in the book and began to ignore Lance. 

"Okay, rude." Lance mumbled, continuing to look for a shirt. He looked for a while, adding some to the 'never' pile and others to the 'maybe' pile before he stumbled across- guess what-- the red shirt. The beautiful, boring red t-shirt that he thought was at his other house.

"FUCKING YES!" Lance exclaimed, clasping a hand over his mouth right after he said it.

"Are you always this loud?" Keith asked. Lance slapped a hand over his mouth, and locked eyes with him. Keith looked confused and a little scared.

"Shut up and get in the closet." Lance ordered. He took his hand off of Keith's mouth and directed him forcefully toward the closet.

"What?"

"Did I stutter, mermaid boy? Shut up, and get in." And without another word, Keith was shoved in the closet and the doors were closed. Lance leaped onto the bed and held the book in front of his face. Before long, the door to his room swung open.

"Shut up, Lance it's, like, two AM and I've been trying to sleep for hours." Pidge demanded. "What are you even yelling about?"

"This book-- my two favorite characters just basically confessed their love to each other!" Lance lied. Pidge blinked.

"What book is that?"

"It's called Voltron, or something." 

"Oh, yeah. The red guy and the blue guy? That's my favorite part. Stop screaming." And with that, Pidge left the room. Lance sighed.

"Keith, you can come out now." Lance said. Nothing happened. "Keith?" he said, a little louder this time.

"How." Keith grumbled.

"Just open the doors." Lance responded. Keith hesitated before profoundly kicking the door in.

"DUDE!" Lance exclaimed, standing up off his bed.

"What? It worked." Keith broke off pieces of the door and escaped the closet.

"That's my closet! How am I going to explain that to my friends?!"

"Wait, you have friends?"

"Yes I do, thanks!"

"No, sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I meant here. You have friends here?"

"Yeah, who do you think just came in?"

"Oh." Keith put two and two together. "Oh yeah."

"Whatever, I found you a shirt. I found pants a while ago."

"Thanks. I guess I don't really need them, though."

"Are you kidding me right now? I hate you so much." Lance pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Well, I should probably go, then." Keith said, strolling toward the exit.

"W-wait!" Lance grabbed his wrist to prevent him from leaving. "Are you gonna come back? Ever?" 

"Maybe. I guess it couldn't hurt..." Keith responded, tugging his hand away from Lance's. 

"Okay, well, if you are, I think you should take these." Lance handed him the outfit. "Do you have somewhere dry to put them?"

Keith paused, accepting the clothes. "Yeah. Sure." 

Lance watched Keith leave his house. He watched him dive back into the water closely. Close enough to see a tail form over his legs and fins grow from his spine. Lance sighed and headed back to his room.

"This place will never be the same." Lance said to himself. "But... that's not a bad thing."

 

* * *

 

And, once again, Keith swam to his rock thinking:

What.

Just.

Happened.

He placed the clothes he had received in a little dip in the cliff. 

What was going on with him? What was going on with that human? Oh, no, Keith never even got his name, he should go back and ask for it. That was a normal thing to do, right? No it wasn't, he concluded. That was a desperate and strange thing that a stalker would do. Probably. But, still, that human was so-- annoying, and loud, and bossy, and stupidly tall, Keith noticed, and just plain stupid, and... Attractive. No, no, Keith didn't think that. That was a very forbidden thought. Keith  _didn't_ think that. Yeah. Oh, god, but the way he looked when Keith said he was leaving-- the faint disappointment in his eyes- it was too much. Keith wasn't going to go back, no matter how much he wanted to. He couldn't. And Keith didn't even want to. Yeah. Humans are dumb. Yeah. That human was an adorably attractive idiot. Keith sighed. 

"Yeah." 


	4. Harmonius

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in the life of Keith the Siren boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!! so this chapter would be the third day of Lance's vacation, just to clarify. also, this chapter is in Keith's POV (for the most part)

Keith didn't have a lot of responsibilities during the day. Most Sirens lived in oceans rather than small lakes such as the one he, Shiro, Allura, and Coran did. Allura and Coran were just regular mermaids, though. Keith and Shiro were practically mermaids, due to their lack of meat consumption. They knew it was unhealthy for Sirens such as themselves to eat so little meat, but Allura wouldn't tolerate the consumption of humans. 

Shiro was something of the father. Shiro made sure that everyone was doing just peachy. Keith, in particular. Allura and Coran were usually fine on their own, but Keith was always getting into "trouble". But, really, how much trouble could you get yourself into in a lake in the middle of nowhere? Well, a lot, according to Shiro. Allura tried to give him as much independence as possible, but it was still a surprisingly small amount.

Allura was the mother if Shiro was the father. Allura was very princess-like and was definitely hiding something about herself. She was very friendly toward everyone she came across and, as mentioned earlier, gave Keith as much independence as possible.

If Shiro was the father, and Allura was the mother, then Coran was that uncle who's not actually related to the family uncle? You know that one? Yeah, he's that one. Coran always fought Allura to take care of things. Coran always wanted to take care of things. 'No, no, I've got it...' was almost his catchphrase, at this point.

But I'm getting off track. 

Keith knew that there was something going on with him that day. Ever since he had awoken that morning, he couldn't stop thinking about that adventure he'd taken the previous night. But, that was normal for someone in his situation, right? Keith thought he was thinking about going back way too much. He hadn't been caught last night, so this night wouldn't be any different, right? It was just like last night, he wouldn't get caught sneaking out.  

Keith thought about the outfit he'd been given last night and how hard it was to keep dry as he swam toward his rock. He'd had to hold it above the water as he swam. It was an awkward experience. Once at his rock, and after he'd calmed down a little, he inspected the outfit thoroughly. Just a nice, plain, red shirt and a pants. They were a short pants. Keith realized he didn't know how to... apply these clothes. Oh, well. He'd figure it out. His head went through the hole in between the places where his arms went... He probably had to put it on over his head. That was how to apply the shirt. The pants were probably even easier to apply. Wait, Keith didn't have time to think about this. 

Keith opened his eyes from where he'd been resting. A few... maybe thirty? Forty? Well, many minutes ago, Shiro had come over to get him, so Keith had pretended to be asleep. Keith thought that now would be a good time to get up, so he swam directly toward the sky to see where the sun was. When he surfaced, he heard something. Before turning to see what the sound was... sounded like talking... he looked up and saw that the sun was... well, it was almost noon. Wow, Shiro had really let him sleep in that long? Huh.

He turned to see what all the fuss was about. The noise, that is. It turned out to be talking, just as he thought, but he hid behind a rock as soon as he saw who is was. It was the human he'd met yesterday and had been thinking about ever since. But, with him, he saw two other humans... one that was a little bigger than the other two and one that was smaller... Pidge? Keith could've sworn that that was his old... friend. An old acquaintance. But, no, it couldn't be, this human was a girl. Unless... No, no, it wasn't. It definitely wasn't. Keith began to tune in to their conversation.

"... what the heck, man?!" The biggest one said after being splashed by the smaller one.

"Sorry, Hunk. You're just so very splashable." the smallest one responded.

"Alright, alright," the human he'd met began, "I think we all know who the real splashmaster is..." He then tore his hands through the water, successfully shooting water into his friends' faces.

" _Lance!"_ His friends cried. Lance was his name. Huh.

Keith could hardly concentrate on Lance's friends. His gaze was focused on the tan and lanky and disgustingly attractive Lance. That was a good name for him. Lance, the human he'd met last night. He couldn't focus on anything else. He wanted to go and talk to him. That was a radically unusual feeling for Keith, actually  _wanting_ to interact with another living thing. Weird. However, he still wanted to, no matter how alien the feeling was to him. It was a simple concept, just swim over and talk to him. But it wasn't as easy done as it was said. Keith was a Siren. He couldn't just swim on over and greet the gang. He'd have to be more subtle. Keith eyed the clothes Lance had given him and formulated a plan. He would swim underneath the water, therefore undetected, to the far left of the beach, where he'd swim ashore and put the clothes on. Then, he'd walk over and greet Lance, hoping that Lance would understand and go along with it. But there was one thing he'd left out of his brilliant plan; how were the clothes going to get over to where he wanted to be?

After some careful thought, Keith realized he'd have to try this with a different approach. There was no way to approach them inconspicuously. So, he decided he wouldn't approach him. He would have to get Lance to approach Keith. Well, he knew a way to do it. The first thing that came to mind was a song. As a Siren, Keith had the ability to control people with music. Well, not control, exactly, but something close. Keith knew that it had been a while since his last song, and he also knew the kinds of backfires it could produce, but he  _had_ to. Of course, he couldn't make Lance go there  _now,_ but he could confirm the night's arrival. And so he was going to. He just crossed his fingers in hope that the aftereffects weren't too out of control.

" _Harsher tides and longer strides make for a faster pace,_

_Come, my dear, I need you here and gone without a trace._

_Once the, sun has fallen and the stars begin to dance,_

_Come sing with me, I beg of thee, my sweetest, dearest Lance."_  

Keith sang. As he sang, he saw Lance perk up at the sound, which meant it was working. His friends didn't seem to notice a thing. It was going perfectly until the aftereffects kicked in. Lance began to sing back.

_"Moon will rise and darken skies, but that will never stop me,_

_I shall cut through rock and stone, if it is to help thee._

_Imperfections, wrong corrections, risk it all for Keith,_

_Flaws and flocks and pins and mocks fuel my Dread Of The Deep..."_

Because Lance wasn't a Siren, his friends definitely noticed the singing outburst. But they weren't unpleasantly surprised. Lance proved to have a fairly good singing voice. Of course Keith did, it was his natural purpose, but Keith was genuinely impressed by the human's vocals.

When Lance snapped back into reality, his friends were eyeing him suspiciously. Keith listened in.

"What... okay, first of all, that was actually fantastic, but, dude? What the heck?" Hunk asked. "Who's Keith? You said Keith, right? That wasn't just me?"

Lance stood slightly dumbfounded. 

"What? Keith? Did I mention a Keith? Ha ha, whoops, must've slipped off of my tongue. Also, what did I do that was so fantastic?" Lance asked, walking farther toward the shore.

"No, Lance, I'm pretty sure you mentioned a Keith in your little song." the littlest one argued.

"... Song?" Lance repeated.

"The song you just sang to us?" the smallest one clarified.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, small one." Lance... lied? Keith really couldn't read him. Lance spun and began heading back toward the cottage.

"Small one...?" she muttered under her breath, following Lance in. As did Hunk. Before entering the house, Hunk looked back on the water and frowned.

Keith sighed as he leaned on the rock. He feared that his song might have more serious aftereffects than what he once thought.

Suddenly, Keith was yanked under the water by Shiro.

"What are you doing?!" he demanded.

"I- uh, I just- Nothing!" Keith stuttered. Shiro looked at him as if he'd just been completely disgraced, a look of shock and anger on his face.

"That was  _not_ nothing, Keith! What are you doing?! You understand what you just did?!" Shiro had a tone to his voice that Keith hadn't heard before. Keith realized he probably  _didn't_ really understand what he just did. 

"I- I just wanted-" Keith was interrupted.

"I know what you wanted, Keith. That was no normal Siren hypnotism. That was an actual love spell, Keith. He is actually in love with you, now, and he doesn't even know. But it's great, because you can tell him tonight when he comes. Good one, Keith." Shiro swam downward, probably to tell Allura and Coran.

Keith floated in complete shock. A love spell? How was that any different from the other times? Normally, he'd just sing to the unsuspecting humans and... well,  _feed._ How was this different? Because he didn't actually want to eat Lance? But, he's done this kind of thing on plenty of humans without casting some sort of love spell.

"How did I cast a love spell? Why is this different from my normal spells?" Keith asked. Shiro paused and hardly turned to answer him.

"Because  _you're_ in love with him. You have to tell him that. Don't worry, I won't tell Allura or Coran, but that's only because I'm trusting you to. Keith, you have to tell that boy when he comes. Lance was his name?" Keith nodded. "You have to tell Lance." Shiro finished.

"I'm in love with him? No, no, I think you're wrong. I don't exactly  _do_ love. It's not really my thing." Keith corrected.

"Well, it is now, get used to it." Shiro spat. Keith almost gasped at Shiro's attitude. Instead, he grumbled indignantly and waited for the night to come.

 

* * *

 

Keith had thought about what Shiro had said more than he thought he would. Could he really be  _in love?_ Yeah, right. There was no way. But what about Lance? Keith could picture that kid being in love with anything that moved. But could anyone really love Keith? Who would? And, even if Lance  _did_ love Keith now, Keith would feel guilty if he were to ever...  _get with_ Lance. Because would it really be mutual? If it was a love spell, then it would be Keith's fault that Lance was in love with him. But, wait, if Lance  _was_ in love with Keith, it would be Keith's fault anyway. So does it really matter whether or not Lance was under a spell? Was there a cure for the spell? A way to snap Lance out of it? Keith would have to ask Shiro in the morning.

For now, it was time to rest. 

 

* * *

 

Lance thought he was losing his mind.

He stood up off his bed in his room and looked at the alarm clock placed on his side table. 3:04 PM. He'd been laying around thinking about Keith for about two hours. He'd possibly fallen asleep during those two hours, but he was thinking about the stupid mermaid boy far too much, despite it. The only conclusion that Lance could come to was that he was losing his mind. Yes. Definitely. Absolutely. 

He began pacing his room as he knew no one could deny how majestic Keith looked as he was diving into the water, scales gleaming and glazed and vividly red. It was beautiful. Not necessarily Keith, but the things that Sirens did. To Lance, Sirens were beautiful, not just the one. Although Lance hadn't exactly seen any others. 

But Lance wasn't only thinking about Keith's beauty. He was also trying to figure out where he'd seen Keith before. He was sure he had, and he was sure that he'd heard his voice, somewhere, too, he just wasn't sure where. Lance decided that maybe now was a good time to actually try and decipher this.

Okay, well, Lance thought about Keith's voice. Keith seemed like a yell-y person. The kind of person that yells a lot at people like Lance. But it was also smooth, and kind of harsh. Smooth and harsh? Yeah, Lance was loosing his mind. Oh, well, that didn't matter right now. Keith was a beautiful mermaid boy with a smooth and harsh voice. It sounded... dark. And kind of alluring. Dark, yet alluring. A voice of bravery. 

Lance stopped so suddenly that he almost fell backward.

Keith was... Was he? Lance had a theory that Keith being the Siren example sketch from the book was possible, and wanted to look more into it. Lance was going to visit Keith tonight and could ask him to see the book then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hit you with that original song


	5. The Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith have a nice chat about the weather.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bonus points for the most accurate chapter summary of all history?  
> but, no, really. Lance and Keith do have a chat, but it's probably not about the weather.

It was time. The moon was out. It was 3 AM and Lance was headed out the door. Why he'd waited this long, he wasn't sure. But it was too late to change his mind, so he was gone.

Lance had gotten changed into his swimsuit beforehand to be ever the more prepared. 

It was nice out. Lance's vacation was showing some very nice temperatures, maybe to pity Lance and the mysterious dread he felt. And that's when he realized how much he actually dreaded this conversation. The first time he'd not wanted to go in the water.  _Anything could happen._ Lance wasn't prepared for what might occur within the night. But what  _could_ happen? All Lance knew was that he wanted to see Keith again, and that was good enough for him. At least he had an excuse for being this way, which was the fact of the book. The book that he'd found on the rock, that Keith had apparently snatched away while Lance wasn't looking. Keith's book.

Lance took in a deep breath and prospered in the feeling of sand leaking through his toes due to his lack of shoes. It was nice. Everything was perfect. The moon and stars were out, plain as day. The sand was cool under his feet. The air was crisp. It was truly a nice night. But Lance couldn't help but feel butterflies in his stomach. He really thought he was going insane.

Lance went over the plan in his head; Find out if Keith has some kind of relation to the book. 

Soon enough, Keith's silhouette was in sight, sitting on  _his_ rock. Lance wanted to signal Keith somehow, so he wouldn't startle him. Wait, no, that was a terrible idea. Lance should purposely startle Keith. Nice. Lance slowly moved into the water trying not to make a sound. When far enough in, he dove underneath and opened his eyes. It was very, very hard to see at this time at night, but Lance could manage. He swam his way, very carefully, toward the rock. 

When he splashed out of the water, Keith's face surprised him as he rose.

"Hey, there." Keith said, wearing a smug grin as Lance shrieked and shot backward into the water. 

"H-how did you see me?" Lance huffed, treading back over and hoisting himself onto the rock beside Keith. Regardless of the dim lighting, Lance thought he could make out some red flushed in Keith's cheeks. He shrugged it off. It was probably a Siren thing.

"You're not exactly a ninja, Lance." Keith smirked. Lance faked an offended expression, smiling, nonetheless.

"You don't know me." Lance felt heat bubbling in his chest as he felt... happy? Yeah, happy.

"Oh, I know more about you than you think." Keith turned to look at the horizon. Lance's smile weakened, but didn't dissipate. He didn't question Keith, as he had more questions on his mind.

"Yeah? Well, that's really creepy. At least I'm not a creep." Lance joked. He noticed Keith's now definite blush redden.

"If you don't like it, you can leave." Keith responded. Wait, was he being serious?

"No, no. It's cool, it's cool. Don't get ahead of yourself, there." Lance said, waving his hands around as he always did. Keith didn't fight back, which Lance was thankful for.

"So, is there anything you wanted to... talk to me about?" Keith said, obviously trying to hide something he knew. Something that was probably about Lance, he figured.

"Actually, yeah." Lance began. Keith seemed to tense up. "Can I see that book of yours?" Lance asked. Keith looked at him strangely.

"That's what you wanted to talk about?" Keith asked. His voice was enchanting and clear when he said it, Lance thought. It was a beautiful sound slicing through the dead silence of the night. Lance nodded.

"Mmyep. So, what's the word?"

"I guess, sure. I'll have to get it for you, though..." Keith dove into the water. Lance inspected Keith's tail as closely as he could, suddenly having the urge to just... touch it. It was too late, though, Keith was already gone.

Lance looked around himself for something to be interested in. Water that way, the beach that way, nothing too interesting there, then there was the big rock dirt mountain that built its way up to the cliff that he liked to dive off of, and then he was looking at the rocks towering over him. Lance had gone in an almost complete counterclockwise circle looking for something interesting, but everything was boring. Until his eyes had fallen upon a little hole in the base of the cliff. In the little hole, there was something red. Not a book, but something... oh! How cute. It was the outfit Lance had given him. Bright red shirt and boring black pants. Lance smiled at it. Keith was adorable.

Suddenly, there was a splash as Keith arose. He was looking rather ashamed. Lance decided to not pry and instead focus on the book at hand.

"Keith, has anyone ever told you how adorable you are?" Lance smiled, taking the book out of Keith's hand. Keith looked conflicted, as if he wasn't sure whether that was a compliment or not, or how to react to either.

"No." Keith deadpanned. Lance didn't respond as he opened the book to look for the Siren page. He filed through the pages, searching and searching for the right page in the dim light. He finally stumbled upon it and observed the sketch. It really did look like Keith, from his stupid hair to his glorious tail. But, even so, Lance still felt that the pieces weren't quite falling into place just yet. He still had more to learn about Keith.

"Is that you, there?" Lance pointed at the messy drawing. 

"Yeah." Keith responded, still unsure about something. 

"Do you know who wrote this book?" Lance had been questioning the book ever since he first saw it in that dream of his, but never really thought about cracking the mysteries it held. He figured now was as good a time as any to do so.

"Well, yeah, sort of. I don't know his name, or where he came from, but he was very passionate about his work. He asked me all kinds of questions back then." 

"Back then?"

"Yeah. It was a long time ago, at least two years. Who knows where he is now?" Keith sighed. Lance paused.

"Why did he give you the book?" Lance asked.

"He didn't. He used to leave it in this air pocket under the water- it was really cool. There was a tunnel to the surface through a cave which led down into the ocean. But, yeah, he left it in there all the time, confident he would be back the next day or so. After a while, he stopped coming back. Maybe he moved. Maybe he died. I really don't know." Keith took the leather-sealed book from Lance's hands, fingers gently brushing across Lance's. Lance felt heat rising to his chest once again. 

"Are you okay? You look kind of red." Keith said, closing the book and setting it next to him.

"I- I'm not. I mean, I'm not red. You are." Lance crossed his arms across his chest. Keith sighed.

"You're tired. Go home." Keith sighed. 

"Yeah, hanging out with you is exhaustingly boring." Lance shot back. He perked up after he said it. "Dude, that was a good comeback. I mean, I'm full of 'em, but that one especially." Lance congratulated himself. Keith laughed.

"Well, you're pretty exhausting, yourself. I'm going to leave this conversation now." Keith sank back into the water and Lance could swear he heard a slight 'fuck' muttered under Keith's breath. Lance laughed and stayed on the rock for a little longer.

"Dipshit." Lance smiled.

 

* * *

 

Keith mentally slapped himself in the face. Did he  _really_ just say that? "I'm going to leave this conversation now." What. The fuck.

And, on top of it all, Keith was pretty sure that Lance called him a dipshit when he left. Keith was certain that Shiro lied to him to hook him up with Lance. 

"How did it go?" Oh, speak of the devil. Shiro came from around the corner and asked.

"Well, first of all, he is  _not_ in love with me, so that's a thing." Keith responded, smiling sarcastically.

"Keith, yes he is." Shiro assured.

"No, Shiro, he's really not. He didn't even consider it. Us. He just wanted to talk about the book. And then he asked questions about the book. And he really didn't care about me at all. Shiro, I touched his fingers with my own and he didn't even care. As a matter of fact, he looked fucking uncomfortable. Oh, and the worst part? He called me a dipshit."

"He probably doesn't realize it, then. He  _definitely_ doesn't think you're a dipshit, though."

Keith paused before he turned and left. Who needs Shiro. He wasn't there. He didn't hear Lance.

"Where are you going?" Shiro asked in his dad voice.

"Away." Keith responded in his angsty teen voice.

"Well, have fun and try not to be so stubborn." Shiro said, taking off in another direction. "Oh, and by the way,  _please_ tell him. You'll probably feel better in some way."

Keith swam up to the rock and sat on it. Lance had left and it was nice and quiet. The reason Keith was so hesitant to telling Lance was for many reasons, but one was because he actually hated talking to people. The idea of interacting with anything made Keith want to yank his hair out. He was fine with talking to others, sure, but he wanted to punch whoever talked back. However, he didn't feel like that when Lance spoke. He just wanted to hug him. Just hugging, yeah. Sure. Right. But even then, he wanted to punch Lance for being so god damn likable. Keith began to realize why he didn't have many friends. He just wanted to fight everything. But not Lance. If he ever got in a fight with Lance, Keith probably wouldn't know what to do with himself, so he was never going to let that happen. Not once.

Keith sighed. He just wanted to hug Lance.

Keith shook his head. Think about something else, god damn it. Oh, wow, the stars sure were out tonight, wow. Very nice. Hey, you know what else was very nice? Lance. Lance was very nice.

Fuck.

 

* * *

 

Lance walked back to the cottage feeling sad for two reasons. One, he didn't want that conversation to end, because then he'd have to wait all day to have another one. Two, he felt as if Keith didn't like him all that much. Lance wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but Keith just seemed to be uncomfortable around Lance. Man, he'd really fucked this up good.

But what was "this"? What did Lance want "this" to be? No, no. Lance can't think about that. Not even once. Okay, maybe just once.

"This", to Lance, was his friendship. Wouldn't it be cool to be friends with a Siren? Yeah. Cool. Friends. But Keith didn't like Lance. He had to remember that. Did that mean Lance should avoid him? You know, to not bother him? Or should Lance try to become more likable? You know what? Lance was simply going to ask Keith how to become more likable. Yeah. 

Next time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol im such a serious writer. I know what im doing. puh-lease.
> 
> also hi I edited the story a lil bit and happy halloween to those who celebrate it!


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